Lindelof gets down to work

b) Putting himself in a postionDamon
put himself in a position of one of the people on the internet who had
nothing to do with the movie and was really curious about what it was.
However his feeling was that to hear that it's a prequel, made the movie
less interesting to him rather than not having a clear sense of what it
was. And so he anticipated that at a certain point the fact that they
weren't going to openly address the question or be cagey about it and it
would lead to a certain degree of frustration, because that's what he
would have felt as a fan.

c) Idea for Prometheus teaserThen Ridley thought that it would be great to have a teaser where they would have the word "Prometheus" reveal itself exactly the way the title Alien revealed itself in the original trailer for the Alien movie. And Ridley was saying through this "I'm making this choice was a very specific reason. If you want to continue asking me what this movie’s relationship is with
Alien, why in God’s name do you think I would do that? "d) TED TalkThe
second thing they agreed on was generating viral content that starred and
featured the characters from the movie. They would try to talk to their actors Guy Pearce and Michael Fassbended
into doing some stuff that would speak very directly to the prequel
issue. Damon pitched the idea of the TED talk, which everybody was
responsive to and Ridley was able to convince Guy to do it. And that TED
talk really spoke to the prequel question because it was Peter Weyland, a man with a surname that is very familiar in all of the Alien movies and the audience would find themselves told that he is a part of Prometheus. And this was another way they were showing the audience, as opposed to telling them,
what the relationship between the two movies is.e)Need for ambiguityBut Lindelof hoped there was enough ambiguity generating some anticipation for what the movie is. Lindelof hated it when he sat in a movie theatre and after the trailer, he felt as if he had just seen the whole movie and he didn't want to do this. But the other side was that he didn't want to be so vague, precious and pretentious about what they were working on that they built up expectations that they couldn't possibly live up to. Everyone wants to know what the relationship is
between this Prometheus and Alien.

Source Quotes

Entertainment Weekly: Okay, so this doesn’t lead to the first scene of Alien, but it does take place before Alien in the same world as Alien?
Damon Lindelof: Correct.Entertainment Weekly: Thank you. I’ve interviewed Ridley four times about this
movie now and every time I get a different answer. How do you feel about
all of the speculation about the film on the internet? Does it help the
movie or hurt the movie?Damon Lindelof:I usually just put myself in the position of, let’s say I had nothing to
do with this movie, and I was one of the people on the internet who was
really curious about what it was, my feeling would be — and this is
just me — to hear that it’s a prequel, makes the movie less interesting
to me than if I don’t really have a clear sense of what it is. And I
anticipated that at a certain point the fact that we weren’t openly
addressing that question — or being cagey about that question — would
lead to a certain degree of frustration, because that’s what I would be
feeling as a fan. That’s when Ridley thought that it would be cool that
in the teaser he’d have the word “Prometheus” reveal itself exactly the
way the title Alien revealed itself in the original trailer for Alien.
This is him saying, I’m making this choice for a very specific reason.
If you want to continue asking me what this movie’s relationship is with
Alien, why in God’s name do you think I would do that? The
second thing is we wanted to generate viral content that starred and
featured the characters from the movie. Let’s see if we can talk Guy Pearce and Michael Fassbender
into doing some stuff that would speak very directly to the prequel
issue. So I pitched the idea of the TED talk, which everybody was
responsive to and Ridley was able to convince Guy to do. And that TED
talk really speaks to the prequel question because it’s Peter Weyland!
And Weyland is a name that is very familiar in all of the Alien movies. And we’re going to tell audiences that he is a part of Prometheus.
So here’s another way we are showing them, as opposed to telling them,
what the relationship between the two movies is. But hopefully with
enough ambiguity that you’re generating some anticipation for what the
movie is. And I will tell you, the hardest thing to do from the insides
of these things is, you and I hate it when you sit in a movie theater
and after the trailer, you say, I guess I feel like I just saw the whole
movie! So you don’t want to do that. But at the same time, you don’t
want to be so vague and precious and pretentious about what
you’re working on that you build an expectation that you couldn’t
possibly live up to. Everyone wants to know what the relationship is
between this movie and Alien. And one could argue that we’ve
set ourselves up for an inevitable disappointment. But look who you’re
talking to right now. If there is anybody who is known for inevitable
disappointment, it’s me. I’m Mr. Inevitable Disappointment! (http://insidemovies.ew.com/2012/05/11/damon-lindelof-prometheus-life-after-lost/3/)